GDB in threaded code

GDB (https://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/ ) is a handy way to debug command line applications. But in the case of applications that are running many threads, it doesn't by default follow a single thread, so as you step through the code it jumps between threads and it's easy to lose track of where you are. The solution is the scheduler-locking command, which forces the stepper to only step through one active thread at a time.

(gdb) set scheduler-locking on

See here for details: https://sourceware.org/gdb/current/onlinedocs/gdb/All_002dStop-Mode.html

Creating a Hyperbook in Microsoft Word

When someone creates a document they'll possibly set up a table of contents which conveniently links to the chapter headings they've created. They'll very likely provide hyperlinks to their sources or references so it's easy to go out on the web and find the sources. But it's pretty rare to provide handy links inside the document pointing to other places in the document - a hyperbook. Now, there's no reason not to keep providing outside links as well, but a good hyperbook is like a self-contained Wikipedia - lots of good information and lots of links to related subjects of interest directly on the page.

To insert internal links into a document in Microsoft Word, do the following.  On the Insert tab, there's a Links panel. Click that, then Link, then Insert Link. The dialog that comes up offers a variety of ways to insert internal links. Very nice for creating hyperbooks.

Force-closing an SSH connection

On occasion when I'm using SSH to connect to a remote server, I run an application that hangs. If the terminal's running inside a GUI, you can always close down the entire terminal and restart it, but there's an easier way: hit Enter, then type "~." (squiggle dot) That force-closes the SSH session leaving your terminal intact. I learned this from SuperUser:

https://superuser.com/q/467398